'One is not a choice'

All of these elements, plus an obnoxious emoji, come together in silly new spots from Havas. What are they advertising? Tulo, the new bed-in-box brand from retailer Mattress Firm, of course!

“We’re hoping this work breaks through by showing consumers what life would be like without a choice,” Israel Garber, executive creative director and managing director at Havas New York, tells Adweek. “The bed-in-a-box industry has romanced the idea of one perfect mattress, but that simply can’t be for everyone. We offer choice in comfort and in buying experience. With so much clutter in the market, we designed quick, impactful creative that makes people realize they have choices for all their [other] needs, [so] why not for a bed-in-a-box, too?”

This minute-long spot pulls back the covers to reveal Tulo’s strategy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsuq-OBJO0w

“The target audience is the modern shopper—someone who isn’t afraid to order items online,” Garber says “They are self-sufficient. They do their own research. They don’t rely on sales people to make their decision. But there is still a huge percentage of the market that wants to test a bed before buying. That’s what makes our value proposition of offering the bed in over 3,500 stores so unique.”

Shorter ads focus on one wacky element at a time. Here’s a stylish twist on bed-heads:

https://youtu.be/VZkT5wRWF9I

“Our committed barber stands out, for sure,” Garber recalls. “He was so into the bowl cut ad, he didn’t wear a wig like the rest. He went out and got a legit bowl cut. No cutting corners for him.”

In this next ad, a sloth s-o-o-o-o-o-o sl-o-o-o-wly chases frisbees in the park:

https://youtu.be/NvVhA5QxHK4

That three-toed freak (it’s a puppet) looked like it was suffering from existential angst. Or maybe it was just stoned out of its gourd. Either way, there’s an emoji for that:

All in all, the spots provide a punchy pitch in the same vein as other wacky, millennial-focused bed-vertising from Casper and Sleep Number.

Tulo continues the “One is not a choice” theme across radio, out-of-home and social. Outreach on the latter includes “Tu-Tired Humans,” in which “we’re asking New Yorkers about their sleeping habits to gain insight,” Garber says.

As New York is the city that never sleeps, the brand could be in for a rude awakening.

CREDITS
Client/Brand: Mattress Firm/tulo
Campaign: One is not a choice

David Gianatasio is a longtime contributor to Adweek, where he has been a writer and editor for two decades. Previously serving as Adweek's New England bureau chief and web editor, he remains based in Boston.